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Death/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim and Moby are walking together outside. It is a windy autumn evening. Tim is dressed in a coat and scarf. He stops abruptly and looks down at the sidewalk. TIM: Oh, man, that stray cat from the park died! A gray cat lies dead on the sidewalk. Flies buzz around it. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, I just-- I just know it's dead. It's not moving, and it's got flies. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, what happens to people when they die? Thank you, D'Marcus. Sure, D'Marcus. An image shows a group of people. They are an assortment of sexes, races, and ages. TIM: Every person alive today is bound to die at some point. MOBY: Beep. TIM: I know. It sounds scary because, well, it is scary. But it's an inevitable part of life. TIM: In the cycle of life, organisms are born, they grow, they experience stuff, and they finally die. Four images appear. The first is frog eggs. The second is a tadpole. The third is a grown, living frog. The fourth is a dead frog. Arrows connect the stages from first to second, second to third, and third to fourth. TIM: No matter how a person or animal dies, there are certain things that always take place when it happens. First of all, the definition of death is kind of tricky. An image shows a tombstone. Text on the tombstone reads: R.I.P. TIM: You would think if someone's heart or lungs no longer worked, they'd be dead. But there are ways to revive people and keep their heart or lungs working artificially. An image shows a patient lying on a hospital bed. He is unconscious, and there is an oxygen mask on his face. TIM: So today, doctors consider a person dead when they have no more electrical brain activity and they aren't able to consciously think. An animation shows a human brain. It lights up and buzzes at first, indicating electrical activity. Then the light fades and it falls silent. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, it's called being brain dead. The first thing that happens after a person dies is that blood stops circulating around the body. An animation shows blood moving through a vein or artery. The blood slows and then stops. TIM: Blood starts to collect in whatever part of the body is closest to the ground. An animation illustrates blood settling toward the feet of an upright body. TIM: This is called liver mortis, and it causes the skin to become slightly discolored. An animation shows a corpse, covered from the neck down with a sheet. Its face becomes pale. TIM: Without oxygen from blood, all human cells stop their regular functions. And since the body is no longer making energy and heat, it cools. A thermometer appears next to the corpse. The temperature shown by the thermometer drops. The corpse's face turns blue. TIM: This cooling is known as algor mortis. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, it takes about twelve hours for a dead body to feel cool to the touch, and a whole day for it to reach the temperature of the air around it. Another thing that happens is rigor mortis. That's when the body starts to stiffen. An animation shows a human silhouette. It stiffens. TIM: It's caused by calcium leaking into the muscle cells, which makes them contract. An animation of bone and muscle in a human limb illustrates what Tim is describing. TIM: Rigor mortis usually starts about two to four hours after death and lasts for a little over a day. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Actually, the time it takes for any of these three mortises to occur varies. Three images show types of mortises. There is a corpse lying on a bed, a thermometer, and a muscle. TIM: It depends on a bunch of things, like the size of the body, the amount of clothing, and what's going on in the surrounding environment, whether it's wet, dry, cold, hot, and so on. Images show different body types, types of dress, and climates. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Depending on conditions, it can take up to about a year for a body to break down into just bones. This process is called decomposition, and it starts just a few minutes after a person dies. An animation shows a corpse turning into a skeleton. TIM: In rare cases, the skin and other tissues are preserved and can last for thousands of years. That's what mummification is all about. An image shows an ancient Egyptian mummy in a tomb. TIM: It can be done on purpose or happen accidentally when there is very low humidity where the person dies, like up in a mountain or in a desert. A second image shows a mummified body lying in a desert. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, you know. The dying part of death is definitely not easy to deal with. It can be so hard to feel like doing anything when you know a loved one is gone, or, or if you're really sick yourself. I remember when my grandma died, it was like the worst day in the world. An image shows Tim weeping with grief. TIM: But you know what? Family and friends are usually great sources of support when you have to deal with the reality of death. An image shows Tim, Moby, and Tim's parents standing next to his grandmother's grave. It is raining, and the humans are crying. TIM: Hey, Moby. What do you say we give this guy a proper burial? Tim looks down at the dead cat on the sidewalk. The scene changes to a grave with a wooden tombstone. Text on the tombstone reads: Kitty. Moby puts a flower on the grave. The wind blows. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts